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Hardik Pandya's hard hit leaves Kane Williamson jumping dramatically, kicks ball in pain; takes blinder moments later
Hardik Pandya's hard hit left Kane Williamson jumping dramatically. The Kiwi then kicked the ball in pain.
Kane Williamson is one of those cricketers who always tries to maintain a poker face on the field, and it is difficult to read what is going on in his mind. However, in a rare occurrence, Williamson broke character as he was hit on the hands by a terrific hard hit by India all-rounder Hardik Pandya during the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium.
The incident happened on the fifth ball of the 45th over. William ORourke bowled a good-length delivery, and the ball got a bit of extra bounce.
Also Read: India eye wickets to defend 249 versus New Zealand in Dubai
However, Hardik Pandya cut the ball pretty hard, and it went straight to Williamson at backward point. The ball raced to the former New Zealand captain and ended up stinging his hand.
Williamson then got a bit animated as he started kicking around and flinching his hands to gesture how painful the hit was. He first shook his hands and then jumped around to ease the pain away.
The entire incident also left commentators Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar in splits.
Earlier, Hardik Pandya and Kane Williamson were also seen chatting with each other after the end of the second drinks break. The chat seemed friendly, and the former Gujarat Titans teammates shared smiles.
Williamson takes a stunning catch
However, moments later, Kane Williamson took a stunning catch at backward point to send Ravindra Jadeja back to the hut for 16.
Matt Henry bowled a back-of-length delivery, and Ravindra Jadeja cut it to the left of Williamson. The Kiwi No.3 batter dived to gather the catch with his less dominant left hand.
Earlier, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and opted to bowl against India in the Group A encounter in Dubai. The Kiwi bowling lineup kept the Indian batters in check, and as a result, Rohit Sharma and co were able to post only 249/9 in the allotted fifty overs.
Shreyas Iyer was India's top scorer, with a knock of 79. Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya also played useful knocks of 42 and 45, respectively.
Matt Henry returned five wickets for New Zealand. Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke, Mitchell Santner, and Rachin Ravindra all returned with one wicket each.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli disappointed with the bat as the duo registered scores of 15 and 11 respectively.
The winner of New Zealand versus India will take on Australia in the semi-final, while the losing party will have to face South Africa in the other semi-final.
